5th April

[chenrezig]

1827 The birth of Joseph Lister, the English physician who introduced the idea of using antiseptics during surgery.

1843 Queen Victoria proclaimed Hong Kong a British crown colony.

1847 Birkenhead Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, opened On This Day. Designed by Joseph Paxton it is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in Britain.

1902 25 football fans were killed at Ibrox Park, Glasgow, when a stand collapsed during a Scotland / England international match. At least another 200 were injured.

1904 The first international rugby league match was played between England and an 'Other Nationalities team' (consisting of Welsh & Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan.

1922 The birth, in Preston, Lancashire of former footballer Sir Tom Finney. He was famous for his loyalty to his league club, Preston North End and for his performances in the English national side. He played his entire career for his local club, appearing 433 times and scoring 187 goals.

1941 The death of Sir Nigel Gresley, one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers. His designs included the A1 series (Flying Scotsman) and the A4 class (Mallard) which holds the record for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world at 126 mph.

1942 World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launched a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean Raid. The port was damaged, civilians were injured and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire were sunk south-west of the island.

1955 Sir Winston Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain through the crisis of World War II, retired as Prime Minister, aged 81, handing over to Anthony Eden.

1964 Automatic, driverless trains began operating on the London Underground.

1976 Harold Wilson resigned as Prime Minister and was succeeded by James Callaghan.

1982 A British Task Force set sail from Southampton to recapture the Falkland Islands after the invasion by Argentina.

1997 The 150th running of the Grand National at Aintree, Liverpool was cancelled because of an IRA bomb scare.

1999 Richard Dunwoody became the most successful jump jockey of all time, when he clocked up his 1,679th win at Wincanton. (The record is now held by Tony McCoy with over 2,000 winners.)

2001 Perry Wacker, a Dutch lorry driver was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his part in the deaths of 58 Chinese illegal immigrants. They were found suffocated in the back of his lorry when it was searched at Dover in June 2000.

2002 People queued for miles beside the Thames to pay their last respects to the Queen Mother, whose body was lying in state in Westminster Hall, London.

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[Rosalind]

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[Misspears]

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